MOSCOW: A trilateral meeting of the leaders of India, Russia and China during the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg will reflect an effort to counter-balance the unipolar world or the West-dominated world, diplomatic sources said here.

"The fledgling trilateral dialogue shows that there are big powers outside the West who also have a stake in dealing with global challenges," the sources told The Hindu . They emphasised that the India-Russia-China dialogue should not be viewed as an alternative forum to G-8, but as a supplement to it.

Outreach countries

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the G-8 summit along with the leaders of four other outreach countries — China, South Asia, Brazil and Mexico — invited by Russia as the host country this year.

Until now, the India-Russia-China discussions have been conducted at the level of Foreign Ministers. They had their first stand-alone meeting in Vladivostok last year, and agreed to meet next time in New Delhi.

"The trilateral dialogue is being effectively upgraded to the summit level even if the meeting will take place on the sidelines of an international event," the sources said.

The initiative to hold the trilateral meeting is understood to have come from Russia, which is trying to position itself as a bridge between the Western world and the developing world.

India essentially views this meeting as an opportunity for consultations on terrorism and stability in Central Asia, which is threatened by terrorism and drug-trafficking, as well as issues on the agenda of the G-8 summit — energy security, education and infectious diseases. India would also like to explore potential areas for trilateral cooperation in the knowledge-based economy.

Investment in oil

Apart from attending the trilateral meeting, Mr. Singh will also meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for bilateral talks. The meeting will give Delhi a chance to prod Moscow on giving the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation a stake in a major Russian oilfield.

"We are prepared to invest in developing an oilfield in Russia that will give us one million barrels of crude a day," Indian Ambassador to Russia Kanwal Sibal said.

Mr. Singh's programme for the July 16-18 visit includes a meeting of the outreach countries to consolidate their views before they meet the G-8 leaders. He is also likely to have bilateral meetings with the leaders of China, Japan, Germany, Kazakhstan and France.

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